Case Study: Extending bearing life by using Ultrasound to identify lubrication problems

Paul Klimuc, Technical Sales and Customer Service Manager, SDT Ultrasound Solutions

Description

This presentation draws on a series of cases where bearing life was limited by the conflict of too many people wanting to do the right thing.
In the first case we examine what happens when you put the wrong grease into a bearing for what appeared to be the right reason – in this case a high temperature grease into a not-so-high temperature application.
The second case examines a common problem found in food factories – the conflict between the lubrication team and the food hygiene cleaners.
Finally, we look at a case where the need to turn over a bearing replacement quickly, led to shortcuts resulting in rapid failure of the newly-installed replacement bearing.

In all three cases we examine how Ultrasound helped to identify the root-cause problems and aided the engineering team to develop a better approach for a more reliable future.

Bio

Paul Klimuc has been involved in Ultrasound technologies for over 35 years. He attended Kean College in New Jersey and recently became a Certified Reliability Leader. Early in his career he spent thirteen years as a NDT technician, where he was Level 2 certified from ASNT (American Society for Non-Destructive Testing) in Radiography, Magnetic Particle Inspection, Dye Penetrate Inspection, Visual Inspection, Ultrasonic Thickness Testing and Ultrasonic Flaw detection. He was involved in many industries, including Nuclear Power generation, Petrochemical process, Pharmaceutical manufacturing, and Steel manufacturing, just to name a few.
Since 1994 he has been working exclusively with the Predictive Maintenance aspect of ultrasound dealing with the same industries he previously worked at and many new ones, including Aircraft, Auto, Food, Tobacco, and is currently involved in application solutions and support for the United States and the Pacific Rim Countries.